WordPress 3.5 is currently in the third beta release and the official release is expected on December 5th. This version of WordPress will be the second major release for 2012 and is focused on improvements of existing features, rather than adding new ones, such as media library, plugins installation and theme previewer.

The biggest improvement in the upcoming WordPress 3.5 is the way that users will add photos in content. With a more simplified interface, WordPress will make the whole workflow of uploading and inserting images much easier, even for beginners.

WordPress shortcodes were introduced in version 2.5 and since then have proved to be one of the most useful features. The average user acting as editor has the ability to publish dynamic content using macros, without the need for programming skills.

When a shortcode is inserted in a WordPress post or page, it is replaced with some other content. In other words, we instruct WordPress to find the macro that is in square brackets ([]) and replace it with the appropriate dynamic content, which is produced by a PHP function.

A very important part of WordPress theme development is preparing it so that users from every corner of the planet can translate its messages to any language. This article covers the basics of internationalization, the process of designing a theme in a way that the end user can adapt it to various languages without source code changes, and localization, the process of translating text messages into a specific language. Expanding our theme’s users range is a big deal and WordPress provides a simple way to do that.

SmashingConf isn't the eighth wonder of the world, but we are pretty close. Join us at SmashingConf Oxford on March 16–19 or meet us at the shores of Santa Monica for SmashingConf LA on April 27–30. You won't be disappointed.